The baby rabbit
by bardic-rabbit
Summary: Dopey likes Sleepy, but his shyness always gets better of him to confess his feelings. Yet neither of them expected an orphaned rabbit to be a reason for them for bond. (Warning for animal death, yet it's nothing gorey)


Sleepy yawned as he thought about this early morning. The sun wasn't much strong yet; it felt slightly warm on his skin. It would be nice to take a nap outside…. but instead, he was here in the woods, having to help Dopey to get jolly berries and fruits. He had to wake up way too early for this. As much he really enjoyed spending time with Dopey, he disliked waking up early.

The whistler however, seemed as eager and happy as ever; he skipped forward, greeting early birds and waving hello to butterflies. This was pretty adorable actually. Though Sleepy would enjoy this more if he didn't felt he was about to fell down in the ground. After he stopped to yawn for the fifth time, Dopey turned at his direction, staring at him.

"Uh? Oh, sorry Dopey. I'm really tired." Sleepy spoke, rubbing his eyes tiredly. He is always tired somehow, but now he was even more tired. To his surprise, Dopey placed a hand in his shoulder and whistled gently, then held his hands against his cheek and mimicked a snore. What that meant? The drowsy dwarf glared his friend for a while, trying to understand what he wanted to say.

Then he decided to take a wild guess. "You want me to stay behind and sleep?" Surprising again, Dopey nodded in response. "But… what about the jolly berries?"

The other dwarf whistled confidently to reply, he seemed to be sure he could get those fruits by himself. Sleepy smiled tiredly. "Thanks Dopey. You are really nice." He looked around to find a good place to sleep, and found a spot under a tree which seemed pretty comfortable, the leaves around it could be arranged to make a natural bed.

He sat down under this tree; the leaves indeed made the ground more comfortable. As he leaned his back on the tree trunk, he noticed that Dopey was looking at him, and he had a slight blush in his cheeks. "Hey, what are you blushing about?" He let a giggle escape when Dopey gasped and ran to another direction. Laying down here, Sleepy quickly fell asleep.

Gosh, that was embarrassing. Dopey mentally told this to himself as collected fruits with a few squirrel friends he met during the way. He was happy enough that he had this chance to be with Sleepy and it felt even better being called nice, how could he explain why he was blushing? This isn't how he wanted to tell Sleepy about…

Dopey shook his head, hearing one of his squirrel friends call him. Whistling in tone of question, he asked what the matter was; the squirrel replied worriedly she noticed something off about her rabbit friend's home. Noticing how concerned she was, he decided to check this out.

The dwarf followed the squirrel across the forest, until they found a rabbit hole. What was worrisome was that the den had a bit of ground covering it, seemed like the hole had a bit of a collapse. Dopey wondered if the rabbits living in there were okay. He and the squirrel quickly approached the hole; he gave a quiet but audible whistle in there, calling the rabbit family.

He waited. No reply. Getting more worried, Dopey decided to risk invading the home. He slowly moved his head inside the hole, more messy ground was spread through it. Now he was really worried about the animals living there. Eventually, his head was fully inside, and he could see everything inside as well, despite the slight darkness. He saw a small furball, moving slowly.

Gasping softly, Dopey gently petted the rabbit. It broke his heart when he realized this one was a baby bunny, who had survived the collapsing of its home. When the bunny was comfortable enough, Dopey picked it and held it against his chest, that was when he saw more furballs, dirt around them, covering parts of their bodies.

And unlike this bunny, they weren't moving.

* * *

All had happened so fast…. At least, to Sleepy it felt fast, especially because he was somehow half asleep during the time. He recalled being awake by Dopey crying and whistling in panic and sadness, and holding a baby bunny in his chest. Even now, Sleepy wasn't sure what had happened, but Dopey insisted on bringing this rabbit to the cottage. He was shaken up about whatever happened to the bunny's family; Sleepy didn't had the heart to tell him Grumpy wouldn't approve of this decision.

Grumpy indeed didn't take the new pet well, but Doc had helped by making a special bed for a baby bunny, as well getting a bottle to feed it. Around the time Doc was building the bed, the dwarves were around Dopey and the bunny in his arms.

"It's so cute and tiny…." Sneezy spoke, he had a hand in Dopey's shoulder, but he tried his best to stay a bit far from the bunny, so its fur wouldn't trigger his allergies.

"Yeah, it's so young. Are you going to name it, Dopey?" Bashful asked timidly, hiding behind Sneezy.

Dopey looked down to the bunny snuggling in his sweater, sighing softly. He wasn't sure of a name yet. He knew now the bunny was a boy though, so he could think a name later.

"Hey Dopey!" Doc appeared carrying a small basket-like bed with a blanket and a pillow. "I finished the bed for your bunny. Let's see what he thinks?" He offered as he put the bed on the floor.

Dopey nodded quietly and knelling down, he carefully placed the rabbit in the bed. He smiled a bit when the bunny, after sniffing and stomping the huge pillow bed, finally laid down to sleep. The poor critter needed some rest, he thought, and he was relieved to see the bunny sleeping peacefully in the bed. Behind him, Dopey heard the other dwarfs (minus Grumpy) utter a collective "Awwwwwww", and he hushed them for this; they were going to wake the bunny up.

"Ohh sorry. Anyway, I need to get an invention done." Doc muttered as he tried to look like a serious leader again. "If you need anything else, go ahead and tell me." He spoke gently to Dopey before leaving to another room.

Sneezy glanced his friend worriedly. "Dopey? You need any help at the moment? Or you rather stay alone a bit?"

Dopey gave two short whistles. It was clear he would prefer to stay alone a bit. Though the whistler wasn't looking at him, Sneezy nodded at the reply. He looked to the other dwarfs and they slowly left the living room, leaving Dopey alone with the sleeping animal.

This didn't felt much right, Sleepy thought as he left. He was worried, Dopey was been upset since he found the bunny. He knew the whistling dwarf wanted some time alone, but was that good for him?

Sleepy slowly tiptoed back to the living room, hiding nearby the couch as he tried to take a look at Dopey. He was in the same spot, sitting close to the sleeping bunny, but now he was hugging his knees close to his head. Did… he heard a sniff coming from Dopey?

Sighing in worry, the drowsy dwarf slowly moved to sit by Dopey's side, and carefully held his shoulder. The whistler quickly turned his head to the side, revealing his teary eyes. "I know you wanted to be alone but… I was worried because of how upset you seemed before. I still can leave if you wan-"

Before he could finish, Dopey jumped in his chest, shakely hugging him and nuzzling his head in the other dwarf's chest, trying to avoid his long beard. After the shock from this reaction was over, Sleepy returned the hug, gently patting his back. He allowed Dopey to stay like this until he calmed down and Sleepy spoke just a few times to whisper words of comfort.

Sleepy tilted his head at sight that the bunny had woken up, and was sniffing and looking around the room. He tapped Dopey's back, whispering "the bunny" to him. Dopey quickly let go of Sleepy and knelt down near the bunny, petting it and whistling to it. Sleepy was amazed at how gentle Dopey could be to animals, even when he wasn't much happy himself.

The whistler suddenly turned his head to Sleepy, giving a low whistle, which the snoozer didn't understood. Seemingly frustrated, Dopey rubbed his belly and pointed to the bunny. "Oh… Is he hungry?" Dopey nodded. "Hmmm I think we got some carrots in the kitchen?" Dopey shook his head with a slight huffy whistle. He pointed to the rabbit and to the floor, wanting Sleepy to stay here and watch the bunny.

With a bit of confusion, Sleepy watched Dopey leave the room, to get something. He looked to the bunny which was sitting in his tiny bed, the critter looked back at him. Sleepy couldn't help but giggle, this bunny was so adorable, and he had a spot which covered his mouth and nose. This reminded the dwarf of something…

Suddenly, the bunny slowly walked out of his bed and approached Sleepy. Smiling softly, he carefully placed a hand on the bunny and petted it. The animal sniffed the hand curiously before decided to nuzzle at the hand, when it was more trustful of him, Sleepy gently picked the bunny, holding it closer to his chest. The bunny snuggled in his chest and sniffed his beard.

Sleepy was so focused on rocking the tiny critter in his arms, that he only noticed Dopey had returned when he heard a whistle calling him. He looked up to see Dopey smiling and blushing sweetly at him, a bottle filled with milk. Sleepy let a nervous chuckle escape as he handed the bunny to Dopey. The whistler then held the bunny with one arm wrapping his tiny body, while his other hand kept the bottle on the animal's mouth as it drank the milk.

Sleepy was right by Dopey's side, watching the young bunny eat slowly. He had no idea the critter was that young. He wondered what had happened to its parents. "Hey Dopey. Are you going to be okay taking care of him by yourself?"

Dopey blinked surprised at this question. He never had trouble caring for any young animal he took in, why was Sleepy asking this? As if the other dwarf guessed what was going on his mind, he spoke again. "Well… I think it would better if I helped you. In case you get too upset from how you found the bunny."

Dopey gasped in surprise, and a bit of joy. He nodded excitedly, but with caution to not drop the bunny or the bottle. Then both dwarves looked to the bunny. "So… what are you going to name him?"

Instead of replying, Dopey looked to Sleepy, almost without blinking. After a while, Sleepy guessed what he wanted. "You… want me to name him?" Dopey nodded happily. The drowsy dwarf looked back back to the bunny, what could they name him? He had a yellowish white fur, with that huge brown spot. That was a bit familiar. Wait...

"Hey, he kinda looks like Mr. Hicklepips." Sleepy muttered at memory of his plush. "Maybe…. We could name him Hicklepips too? I'm sorry, I'm not good with names." Sleepy chuckled sheepish. Dopey however, loved the name, and he whistled a merry, gentle tone to show how much he liked the name.

Sleepy just smiled in response. They looked at the bunny Hicklepips as he kept eating. Suddenly, Dopey felt Sleepy wrap an arm around his shoulders, his eyes widen and he blushed at this. Sleepy held Dopey closer and asked: "Also… when are you going to tell me that you like me too?"

Dopey let a strong gasp escape. So Sleepy had noticed. Wait, how didn't he had noticed Sleepy liked him as well? Maybe if he had asked before, he would have known this sooner… The snoozer dwarf giggled softly at Dopey's reaction, and the whistler looked back to him with a wide smile.

As a response for his question, he placed a quick kiss in the other's cheek. Sleepy blushed brightly at this, then the dwarves sat on the floor. Sleepy watched his sweetheart lay his head on his shoulder, while Dopey quietly keep feeding the milk to Hicklepips the rabbit.


End file.
